Aquinas/St. Mary’s Snow Day Policy

As the winter season approaches, I want to explain our policies and procedures dealing with school closing due to inclement weather. If possible, we will hold classes on every scheduled school day. If weather conditions warrant consideration, the administrations of Aquinas/St. Mary’s and David City Public Schools will confer and decide on what action will be taken. The administration will attempt to make this decision by 6:30 a.m. If the decision is made to delay or cancel school, IRIS calls will be made to our patrons and we will notify these radio stations: KFOR 1240 AM KZKX 96.9 FM KFRX 106.3 FM KIBZ 104.1FM KTGL 92.9 FM KLMS 1480 AM WJAG 780 AM KEXL 106.7 FM We will also notify channel 10/11, channel 8 and channel 7 television stations. In the event we decide to OPEN SCHOOL LATE, we would begin school at 10:00 a.m. Preschool will be held in the afternoon only! We will follow the same procedure if we find it necessary to dismiss students early without prior notice. If we have to close school during the day, you may want to have made arrangements in advance for your students to go somewhere or for someone to pick them up at school. For grade school children, these arrangements should be on file in the school office. Parents please discuss the arrangements with your children and send written notice to the school.

Bus Transportation Procedures

When roads are impassable, please notify your bus driver so he does not try to enter a dangerous situation. The drivers will notify you if, in their judgment, they cannot drive to your regular stop. An alternate pick-up point should be worked out between you and the bus driver. This is being done because road conditions may vary with each storm. If you have any questions, call your driver. Some things that you, as a parent, can do to assist us to have a smooth, safe operation of the transportation system are the following: 1. Have your children at the bus stop on time. (It would be courteous to call the next parents to notify them if the bus is on its way but running a few minutes late.) 2. Be sure that arrangements have been made for your children to remain in town in the event they cannot be transported home. If you have not notified the school office, please do so. 3. Be sure your children dress warmly every day for the bus trip to school. Situations can develop, even on a clear winter day, which could cause a bus to stall. Should this occur, the clothing your children have on may be needed to keep them warm until assistance arrives. 4. Often times you will know of roads that are impassable before the driver arrives at the particular spot. Please let the driver know of roads that are usually impassable when heavy snow or blowing snow occurs so a plan can be devised to avoid major problems. As you know, the cargoes on the buses are precious and any unnecessary risk is too much.

Activity Practices & Events

It is our policy that if the weather conditions are such that it warrants canceling school or dismissing early, then all practices will be canceled. Elementary and middle school activities will not be held if school has been closed that day. If school has been closed and a high school activity has been scheduled for that evening, we will not participate in that evenings activity unless one of the following situations exist: 1. The opposing teams or tournament personnel would not agree to postpone the event. (EVEN IF THIS OCCURRED WE WOULD NOT PARTICIPATE UNLESS THE WEATHER CONDITIONS HAD IMPROVED TO A POINT WHERE TRAVEL WAS SAFE.) 2. If snow/ice during the night caused the cancellation of school and the weather throughout the day made it possible for the snow/ice to be removed from school parking areas and roadways, we would try to hold the activity.

PLEASE REMEMBER, THE FINAL DECISION TO SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO SCHOOL, OR ANYWHERE ELSE, DURING INCLEMENT WEATHER IS YOURS!